The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully launched the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) satellite from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota on Thursday using a GSLV Mk-II rocket. The satellite, developed jointly over a decade at a cost of $1.5 billion, will map the entire Earth surface every 12 days using dual-frequency radar to track changes in ecosystems, ice mass, vegetation, and sea levels with unprecedented precision.
ISRO Chairman S. Somanath called it a milestone in India-US space cooperation, while NASA Administrator Bill Nelson participated in the launch ceremony via video link from Washington. NISAR will orbit at an altitude of 747 km and is designed to operate for at least three years. The data will be freely available to researchers and policymakers worldwide, providing critical inputs for climate studies, disaster management, and agricultural planning.